You Said What?
by seeleybaby
Summary: Based on Brennan's reaction when she finds out that Max had a little talk with Booth in season four.


"You said what?" Brennan's eyes widened and she shoved her plate away from herself.

"Relax, baby girl." Max charmed. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal?" Brennan sputtered, her cheeks heating, "First of all, Booth is…no, first of all, don't call me baby girl" she spat, and glared when her father chuckled.

"And second of all, you had no right to tell Booth that."

Max opened his palms "To tell him that I want what's best for you? What's the crime in that?"

Her hands slammed to the table, "But that's not what you said, is it? You didn't say you wanted what was best for me, you told him you wanted HIM for me!"

"Shh…sweetie, quiet down…or the whole place is liable to think I'm right." Max teased.

"So you came into the lab and accosted my partner, and interrogated him?"

"No, I just asked him a couple of questions, and I told him he was a good man. I told you that. Did you ever think that maybe it might be nice for Booth to hear a compliment every once in awhile?"

That stung, and Brennan's eyes narrowed, but she looked out the window to calm her nerves. "You had no right. Even if you'd been the perfect father, you still would have no right to barter me off like some ancient bride to be."

Max snorted. "You're being melodramatic, and you're never melodramatic." He smiled, "Which leads me to believe you actually do care about Booth as much as he does for you."

"No I don't….wait…he told you that?"

Max smiled at her question. "He said you were beautiful."

Brennan's chest tightened, and she cursed a flutter in her stomach. "That's…that's not the same thing."

"Baby…" Max paused and smiled again that she was too distracted to notice his endearment. "You're not mad at me for what I said."

Her head reared back and she looked at him. "Yes I am."

"No, you're mad at Booth for not telling you about our conversation."

Brennan swallowed, and opened her mouth to answer, but Max held up his hands again.

"Listen, baby, go. Go talk to Booth; ask him about it. He'll tell you the truth, I'm sure."

Brennan shook her head and fiddled with her straw against her glass. "Booth and I don't really talk."

Max was silent for a moment until she looked up. "You don't talk? I find that hard to believe…" he grinned.

Brennan chuckled a bit. "I mean, we don't talk about us, about our rela-…our partnership, or anything like that." Her eyes widened again, but she was already looking down at the table, tearing her napkin into small thin strips.

She looked up suddenly when she felt her dad press a kiss to the top of her head. He patted her shoulder and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Talk to him, baby. It's not so hard."

Brennan met his eyes as he stood up and motioned for the door. "Don't call me baby" she smiled, and he chuckled as he walked away.

~~B & B~~

On a whim, she picked up her phone and dialed the number.

"Bones…where you at?"

She smiled. "The diner."

"Ah," he sighed. "Bones, and pie, two of my favorite things…"

Brennan chuckled. "Want to me meet me?"

"Sure, Bones…see you soon."

Brennan closed her phone and put it in her pocket, pleased. She motioned for the waitress to come over and ordered what she thought Booth would like, as well as a piece of chocolate cream pie for herself.

~~B&B~~

Booth got there as soon as his food arrived, and he smiled and giggled in that way he did when he was actually happy about something small in his life. "Bones…you ordered for me?"

Brennan bit her lip and kept her gaze on him. "Yes. I hope that's okay."

Booth picked up his burger and took a big bite. "Oh yeah" he closed his eyes, "Definitely okay, Bones." He smiled at her and she motioned that he had some ketchup on the side of his mouth. He swiped quickly and raised his eyebrows in question.

She nodded, and realized that in some things, they didn't need to talk…they just were themselves. But maybe there were some things that needed to be said.

Brennan picked up her fork and neatly pressed it through the end of her pie, pulling it up for a bite. It was very good, and she might have moaned a little. Her eyes flew open to see Booth smiling at her, and she blushed a little, and laughed nervously.

He joined her, then reached across quickly with his own fork to steal a bite from her plate.

"Hey, that's mine!' She pulled her plate closer to him.

He just laughed and shoveled the bite into his mouth.

"Oh…" he whimpered a bit, and this time her eyebrows rose. "That's good" he muffled through cream and crust.

She laughed then and leaned forward. "Maybe it just seems better because you had to steal it."

"Oh, ho, Bones!" Booth grinned and leaned toward her, letting his sandwich fall to his plate. "Calling me a criminal." His eyes held hers for a minute before he looked down, then took a drink of his water.

"Speak--" Brennan cleared her throat. "Speaking of criminals, I uh…I had lunch with my dad."

Booth's head came up and he met her eyes. "Just now?"

Brennan tucked her chin down and fiddled with her new napkin. "Yes…he told me about your conversation."

While she wasn't watching him, she could sense Booth's body tense up a bit, and knew that he knew exactly what conversation she was talking about.

"Oh…" was all he said for a while, and Brennan wondered what she'd expected him to do.

After a couple more moments of silence, Brennan straightened her shoulders. This was kind of ridiculous. They were partners. She could talk to him, couldn't she? She looked up and his eyes were quick to meet hers, as if they'd been waiting for her to look at him.

"I think you're a good man, too" she spoke quickly, then bit the inside of her cheek.

His tongue pressed to the inside of his cheek, but he didn't look away.

When he didn't say anything for another moment, Brennan grew uncomfortable with the silence and began gathering her coat and purse to leave. As she stood up, she felt a hand on her arm, and realized Booth had stood up too.

She met his eyes and drew in a breath at the way they'd darkened a bit. He wasn't angry, but he was just…thinking about something. "Thank you" he said finally, and released her arm.

Brennan wasn't sure what she'd expected him to say, but found she was a bit disappointed, although she was also pleased with the sincerity in his tone. "You're welcome" she nodded slightly.

"Did you drive here?" he was asking her.

Brennan shook her head. "No, actually, I came with my dad." She blinked a couple of times as she realized she hadn't once thought about how she was going to get back to work.

Blinking again she felt the wool of her coat along her arms and shoulders, and the brush of his fingers against her as Booth helped her. "Come on, I'll take you back." He said, then pulled out a few bills to throw on the table.

They walked quietly to his car, and Brennan could feel the way his eyes skimmed in her direction a few times, though she was careful to keep hers on the passing traffic.

Just as they were turning into the parking lot of the Jeffersonian, he turned to look at her fully. "You…you're beautiful. You know that, right?" his voice sounded unsure.

Brennan felt a smile move across her face without her permission and she looked at her partner, wanting to erase the insecurity in his brow. "Thank you."

They stared at each other for a few more moments until the sound of a honking horn caused both to jump a bit.

Booth chuckled and shook his head as he pulled the rest of the way up to the steps. "Catch you later, Bones." He said as she opened the door.

"I'll be here" she called back as she closed it, then waved.


End file.
